M 74

This conspicuous spiral is a prototype of a grand-design Sc. Its distance may be about 30 to 40 million light years, as it recedes with 793 km/sec. Then its spiral arms are about 1000 light years broad. They are traces with clusters of blue young stars in color photos. The nucleus is small and bright.

Ultraviolet image from the ASTRO-1 mission.
Visible image, also from ASTRO-1
More images of M74

For the amateur, very good conditions are needed to see more than this nucleus. But if they are given, suggestions of the magnificient spiral arms become apparent in telescopes starting at 4-inch.

Messier marathoners often miss this galaxy in the evening, as it stands near the limit of the "Messier-Free Zone" in the sky. Only globular cluster M30 is missed more frequently than this galaxy.

Right ascension	01 : 24.0 (hours : minutes)
Declination	+15 : 32 (degrees : minutes)
Distance	20000.0 (light-years*10^3)
Visual magnitude	10.2